| The Atheist Burden |
| by Max Fawcett | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Will the recent success of atheist literature lead to an increase in the number of atheists? *** It's a good time to be an atheist. Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion and Christopher Hitchens' god is Not Great have joined Sam Harris' The End of Faith and Michel Onfray's The Case For Atheism atop international best-seller lists throughout the Western world, with Dawkins and Hitchens' books having ranked first and second respectively on the Globe and Mail's best seller list for the past two months. Every major magazine worth mentioning has covered the resurgence of atheism in recent months, either as the cover story or as a feature article, and some have begun to publish pieces critical of the apparent atheist revolution. Things are going so well for atheists that it wouldn't come as a surprise to learn that Mel Gibson's next religiously-inspired snuff film will be about Jean Meslier, a little known French priest who was, as it turned out, the first atheist scholar. But while the growing interest in atheism will make writers like Hitchens and Dawkins even richer than they already are, it won't do much for the long-term prospects of the atheist project itself. The success of these books may make atheists more confident in their convictions and more capable in their arguments with those on the other side but they will do little to change the minds of the faithful, the audience that each writer professes to be addressing. In other words, while these books will together sell in the millions, the number of people "converting" to atheism as a result of reading them won't break a thousand. These books will fail to achieve their stated goal of extending the reach, influence, and numbers of atheism because they spend too much time focusing on what atheism isn't rather than explaining what it is. Each author devotes the majority - overwhelmingly so in the case of Dawkins - of their book to exposing the flaws in each major religion, be it the intellectual contradictions in their holy texts, the barbarism, misogyny, and racism inherent in their foundational stories, the irrationality of their views on the beginnings of the universe, or the endless cruelties that people have committed throughout history in the name of their chosen faith. While it's important, and even fun, to kick over organized religion's numerous sacred cows, it is an ultimately futile exercise if a viable alternative isn't presented in their place. It's difficult, in other words, to convince people to exchange something for nothing, even if that something is demonstrably flawed. This is, for atheists, a missed opportunity. While its leading advocates have managed to place books at or near the top of bestseller lists across the Western world, it still hasn't made a convincing case for why atheism is important on its ow\n merits. It can't simply exist as a negation of faith if it is to change any significant number of minds. But because the major religions are built on contradictory stories, irrational ideas, and a litany of barbaric behaviour, it is easy for otherwise focused writers, be they academics like Onfray or polemicists like Harris and Hitchens, to lose sight of the ultimate goal and instead spend their time knocking down the easy targets that religious arguments offer. That goal should be the explication of the coherent set of values, beliefs, and ideas that form the core of an atheist outlook on the world. What do atheists believe, then? Atheism is essentially an adjunct to secular humanism, in that each values respect for the rights of individuals, freedom of thought and inquiry, the equality of all people, and an appreciation of natural and man-made wonders. Atheists don't discriminate, they don't withhold rights from particular groups, they don't fear scientific progress and the frequently baffling explanations of the world it provides, they don't wish for the end of the world, and they don't insist upon imposing feelings of guilt and failure onto the thoughts and actions of others. Perhaps most importantly, atheists are engaged in the one life that they're given rather than simply enduring it in anticipation of something better to come. In order to spread the "gospel" of atheistic beliefs, atheist writers must spend less time attacking the other guys and more time building themselves and their values up. But they must work equally hard to dispel the widely held belief that atheism is, by definition, a rejection of the existence of God. There are many atheists-in-waiting who refuse to identify themselves as such because they believe that to be an atheist one must completely and unconditionally refute the existence of a higher power. This isn't technically true, because if atheism was rooted in a belief in a Godless universe it would be called adeism. Atheism is instead the rejection of organized religion - theism - and the corrosive effects it has on the world, and as such has a place for people who may still entertain the possibility of a higher power but refuse to worship him/her/it in a building every week. If atheists are to achieve any significant social and cultural momentum that confusion needs to be clarified. These aren't bad books, and their place and tenure on the best-seller lists are a testimony to their appeal, both to atheists seeking affirmation of their beliefs and readers of faith who are interested in learning more about atheism. They are at once powerful indictments of all the evils and errors of organized religion and encouragement for atheist readers who are all too aware of them. But until atheist writers like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Michael Onfray, and Sam Harris spend more time explaining the virtues of atheism and less time bashing the vices of faith, atheism will remain nothing more than another critical discourse among many rather than a coherent system of values and beliefs in its own right. Whether because of the profoundly religious and politically reckless administration of George W. Bush, the surge in fundamentalist Christianity in the United States, the rise of Islamic terrorism, continued strife in the Middle East, or a combination thereof, atheism is enjoying a rare moment in the cultural spotlight. But unless atheists can take advantage of it by spreading their message rather than simply satisfying themselves with harpooning those of the religious, atheism will be back in that familiar spot between obscurity and irrelevance very soon.
Toronto, August 30 - 985 w.
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